[Aaron94]

Hey guys, this is my first post in this part of Head-Fi so please mind my ignorance should it present itself. 
 
To start off, I dont know much about DACs, but I would like to learn more about them as time goes on, both with experience and reading. 
 
As the title says I am looking for my first desktop DAC, and since it will be the first I would like to keep the budget fairly low, probably $150. Now I have already looked into a few DAC, and Im liking the ones Ive seen that have either a partner amp or a built in amp. The ones Ive looked into consist of only the ones Ive read about thus far which are the Schiit Modi (And Magni combo) which Im leaning towards so far, the Maverick Audio Tubemagic D1, the Aune Audio T1, and the Hifiman EF2A. 
 
This is where I would like a bit of help, I have no clue which one of those would best suit me. As I said I am leaning towards the Schiit Modi, with Magni, mainly because of all the good things Ive read about them, such as the ability to drive almost any headphone, even Orthos. But I also like the things Ive heard about the Aune and the Hifiman, but I have future plans to buy a Woo Audio WA6 as a reliable tube amp, so Im not sure what good two of them would do me.
 
Currently I listen to mainly dubstep, but I also listen to a lot of pretty much everything else, except rap.
 
So I guess what I need is some advice if anyone has any for me? Should I stick with the Schiit Stack or would I be happier with something else?
 
Please pay no attention to my current list of headphones/IEMs I own. In the future when I have more money I plan to buy some more appropriate ones for desktop use, such as some Sennheiser HD600s or AKG K702. All of this, including the purchase of the amp will go down later in the year, I just wanted to get to know some of it better first

 

[PurpleAngel]

What are you going to be plugging the DAC and headphones into?

 

[Aaron94]

An Asus laptop or a desktop PC, both of which will be running ALAC/FLAC files once I can get my CDs.

 

[Aaron94]

At the moment Im looking mainly into Schiit, the Modi would be my entry level, and then once I get more money Ill probably make the jump to a Bifrost with another one of their amps. I only wish their products came in black

 

[Aaron94]

Bump.

 

[serious7]

im looking for my first desktop dac as well. Im plugging it into a Lehmann BCL (Non USB Version) -> HD 650. I have an Xonar STX Soundcard which is plugged into Lehmann currently but I want to replace Xonar with something external. Am looking for something that is more of an upgrade to the Xonar's DAC.
 
To the thread starter: Sorry for taking over the thread but I thought instead of creating a new one, might as well keep this one alive since I'm looking for almost the same thing as you.

 

[Aaron94]

Well Ive decided on the Schiit Modi as my DAC, im not sure if its upgradeable but you may still like it. I know that the Schiit Bifrost is upgradeable, all you have to do it send it to them when upgrades are available and that do it and send it back. But its $350-$450